Archives for April 2014

When we purchase a product it better damn well function as advertised.

All day long you have certain expectations of people and things. You hold them to a standard. Hell will most likely be raised if they don’t measure up consistently or fail to follow through on what is expected. They are accountable to you.

But do you place upon yourself the same level of expectations and accountability? Do you make it a priority to honor the personal commitments you make to yourself?

I’m asking you this because I first asked myself. It makes for a good dose of self-examination for the sake of personal improvement. It’s an opportunity to tweak the areas that need fine-tuning. It’s a chance to raise the bar for the end result of greater gain.

When you commit to your health & fitness, it’s not okay to repeatedly drop the ball. And why should it be? When others honor their commitments to you in a wishy-washy, lackadaisical-type fashion, you hold them accountable, right? Be that same person when dealing with self.

This is not a call to action to strive for perfection and do everything right 100% of the time. That’s impossible, of course. Yet I’m sure there is a personal “knowing” on the inside of you whether you are giving something your best effort or simply being lazy about it.

I challenge you to live each day in the most excellent way you can. Not with perfection, but with a personal gold standard (however you define it). Place expectations on yourself and follow through with excellence and great effort and zeal. Be accountable to YOU.

There’s more than one way to skin a cat for weight loss. Doesn’t fried kitty claws in sauteed hyena oats sound kinda of tasty?

You’ll be happy to know that skinning the weight loss cat just got easier. I lost my first 20 pounds with very little information on what to do right or wrong. There was a major learning curve involved, but the 20 pounds did come off eventually. I’m now 40 pounds down and, looking back to the beginning, I would certainly do some things different to expedite my weight loss.

So how’s about right now I unscrew the top of my cranium and do a massive brain dump of knowledge that will help you lose those first 20-pounds without you feeling like it’s rocket science. Here are my 9 fanciest tips…

Now that the Easter eating-fest is over (yes, that’s what happened), my time of grazing on delectable high calorie goodness like a hungry bison roaming wild on the range must also come to an end. This is my new, favorite flat abs meal:

Grilled chicken & sauteed greens with garlic over a bed of spaghetti squash.

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It’s been prepped, packed for several day’s worth, and ready for eating as my very first meal during each day of intermittent fasting. So easy to make, pack and gnaw on for the acquisition or maintenance a great mid-section. My mother showed me the ease of making this. It’s one of those loosey-goosey recipes you just throw together without measuring — cook it up with your own personal artistic flare.

And for dinner? I eat what my family eats, whether it be a chicken & rice, pork chops, BLTs or grilled cheese. It’s no big deal.

I’m pretty much a straight shooter with the meal planning. I don’t leave a lot of room for crappy junk food that’s not worth it. Instead, room is left for weekend noshing on things are worth it, like French toast & sausage, greedy pizza slices and ice cream.

Feed your stomach the food planning ideas listed above, or add your own healthy favorites to each category for more tasty flat abs combos. Please whine to me in the comments if you’re feeling justifiably too lazy to cook anything up. I will food teleport you a sample meal. BOOM!

Connie’s situation took a craptastic turn very early in the day. It’s not wise to sprint into traffic while wearing black, slip-on loafers. The damn shoe flew off as she ran across the street to catch the bus to work. Too bad public transportation does not wait for wardrobe malfunctions.

But trekking to work on foot wasn’t much of a bother. That is, if you consider hiking 20 city blocks on a muggy, 82-degree morning to be no big deal. Never mind she’s wearing the busted up shoe that got run over by an SUV, and a skirt that now has a fine line of butt crack sweat up the back, thanks to the forced power walk.

Perhaps it goes without saying, but Connie is feeling stabby.

Coincidentally, she forgot both her wallet and that fancy lunch she packed (veggies & hummus on a spinach wrap). The day is getting stabbier by the millisecond. When noontime rolled around Connie opened up the emergency can of chicken she had hidden in the deep, dark crevice of her desk drawer. You know, just in case the apocalypse hits. She would need food to survive.

The expiration date on the can: March 25, 2012.

Eff it. Connie ate the chicken anyway. How unfortunate that expired canned meat tastes like cat food. At least there were some of those leftover crispy noodles from last week’s Chinese takeout to sprinkle on the chicken.

But, ohhh damn. By the time 3pm rolled around, Connie’s stomach started gurgling — and you know what kind of gurgle I’m talking about. The kind that makes you nervous and causes an immediate assessment of your proximity to the rest room, complete with increase heart rate due to the stressful logistics involved in hoping you actually make it to the toilet. There may also be hot flashes involved, which Connie did indeed experience.

Why Connie, why did you eat ‘dem old chickens?

She held her butt cheeks as tight as possible while taking short, quick strides in the direction of the ladies room (don’t act like you’ve never had to do this). Harold from the Janitorial Department stopped her on the way.

“Hey, Cons. How’s your day going?”

“Harold, please. I told you not to call me Cons. My day is fine. Is the bathroom open?”

…more stomach gurgles…

He was just about to put up the CLOSED sign to take care of a toilet overflow.

“Bathroom’s closed, Cons. You’ll have to — ”

Connie didn’t wait for him to answer. She barreled through the bathroom door as her fears of intestinal liquid lava culminated into a scene from the explosion of Mount Vesuvius. Busted up shoes & butt crack sweat were minor inconveniences compared to hot lava. She made it just in time.

Fifteen minutes later, Connie wiped the sweat from her brow as she exited the bathroom to find Harold waiting, leaning on the wall with his arms crossed. Their eyes met but no words were spoken by either person. There was just a knowing of what went down and the humanly respect not to say anything about it.

As Connie walked down the hall and turned the corner, Harold pulled out a gas mask from under his cleaning cart and stepped into the bathroom. He, too, is always prepared for apocalyptic-style events.

The stabbiness of Connie’s day may go down in history, but at least she has Yoga class after work to help melt the stress away. It’s just a lowdown dirty shame Connie didn’t realize the Yoga pants she packed are unraveling on the seam of the butt. Please cross your fingers for Connie. May her forward bends in class be accomplished without incident (but I seriously doubt it). THE END

A Cinnabon is 880 calories. I ate about six Cinnabons during my 12-weeks of Intermittent Fasting. That’s not including all the restaurant-ing I did. Starving yourself and not allowing for indulgences is NOT the Yum Yucky way to transform your body.

If you have a daily commitment to your fitness and eat healthy on most days of the week, there’s no dang reason you can’t enjoy your favorite greedy treats.

Intermittent Fasting is a sustainable approach to my fitness. I’m going to continue with it. It’s become habit and I like how it makes me feel. Look for the Quick Start Guide to be rolled out soon and please shoot me any questions you have. XO!

Well, hello there.

Hi! I'm Josie. This is where I share my passions for healthy living, natural health, fitness, and happiness. My goal is for you to be empowered and informed by what you read and learn here. I'm 44 years old and I love Jesus. I've been married to my husband for 13 years. I have 4 children (ages 24, 21, 12 and 8), and I'm also a grandmother to a sweet 2-year old little girl. I've lost over 40 pounds during my weight loss journey. I encourage you to stay empowered. Always keep your head up and stay strong! Meet Josie